Protecting Kyiv's Architectural Legacy: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its graceful transom window the “croissant”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she stated, gazing at its tree limb-inspired features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who commemorated the work with a couple of neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance in the face of a foreign power, she clarified: “We strive to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in our homeland. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance represents our commitment to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way.”

Protecting Kyiv’s historic buildings seems paradoxical at a time when drone attacks frequently hit the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers cover broken windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Conflict, a Campaign for Identity

Despite the violence, a collective of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was originally the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare today,” Danylenko said. The mansion was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings close by exhibit similar art nouveau characteristics, including an irregular shape – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One much-loved house in the area displays two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Threats to History

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish protected buildings, unethical officials and a governing class apathetic or hostile to the city’s profound architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another burden.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a bygone era. The mayor rejects these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once championed older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The ongoing conflict meant that the entire society was facing monetary strain, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Loss and Neglect

One notorious demolition site is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its attractive brick facade. Shortly following the full-scale invasion, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while asserting they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, redesigning its central boulevard after the second world war so it could facilitate large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was fell in 2022 while serving in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his crucial preservation work. There were initially 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their period doors remain, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character vine-clad house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and original-style railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not value the past? “Regrettably they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from civilization,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Therapy in Preservation

Some buildings are crumbling because of official neglect. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons roosted among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a whimsical tower. “Many times we are unsuccessful,” she admitted. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this history and splendour.”

In the face of destruction and development pressures, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, stating that to preserve a city’s soul, you must first save its history.